


Curiosity Isn't Always A Bad Thing

by RaawrImaDinosaur



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Armin doesn't know how to follow rules, Armin is a little too naive, Erwin is just a navel officer, Fluff, M/M, Maybe even a rating change, Merman!Armin, Mikasa is the sea witch, Probably a little stupid as well, Romance, Who gets bossed around by Levi, and probably more pairings, merman au, more tags as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 12:37:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1428796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaawrImaDinosaur/pseuds/RaawrImaDinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin doesn't like to follow the rules, so when a certain Naval Officer catches his eye, who is Armin to just let the opportunity pass?</p><p>(Or the one where Armin learns not to trust a sea witch)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curiosity Isn't Always A Bad Thing

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom, and, well this AU would not let me sleep last night. Seriously. This is vaguely based on 'The Little Mermaid', and is also badly unbeta'd, and was written in the middle of the night, so I apologize in advance for both the grammar.
> 
> (EDIT: This chapter has been rewritten).

Every day, Armin would swim to the same ocean cave, and just sit there, peering up at the clear, sparkling rocks which made up most of the cave wall. He longed to touch them, to pull one off and having it for his own. He loved shiny things; loved new and rare gems he had never seen before. He had a bag hiding in a nook on the ocean floor, out of site. When he was alone, he would add to it, or check that it had been left undisturbed. And now, he wanted one of those clear rocks for his collection. He frowned, and continued to glare at the wall, almost daring it to fall apart. At this rate, he was never going to have one of the rocks, and he bemoaned the fact. And nearing the end of the day, when it was time to go, he would glance mournfully over his shoulder at the pretty cave wall, before diving down, and out from underneath the cave.

Every day, this happened, without stop. The cave was his magical getaway. The one place he could be Armin, the merman; not Armin, the crowned prince. The title made him cringe. It just wasn't _him_ so sometimes it was nice to slip away from the palace, and his royal duties and just relax. In the cave, he felt like he could finally hear himself think; could finally _breathe_ without feeling suffocated. He couldn't even clean his fins without having someone breathe down his neck!

Armin sighed as he pulled up at a nook, not too far from the cave's underground entrance, and dug around a bit for his stash. He opened the bag, and took a look at his collection, making sure it was still there; one yellow, and one cream salt water pearls, four gold coins, a round, bronze weapon of sorts, which seemed to clip together at the back (a source of frustration, as Armin couldn't for the life of him, work out how it worked as a weapon, but it had a sharp, pointy thing at the back. It had to be a weapon). The tiny, trident, much like his grandfather's, but not as grand. He wondered why it was so small, but he supposed that it could poke someone's eye out, if anything. Maybe maim them. He the pulled out a crown. It was probably his favourite thing. It was gold, with tiny, red gems and little designs etched into the metal. He liked to look at it, and run his fingers over the cool metal. 

It was a surface creature's crown; much different from the ones they had in his kingdom, which was probably why he liked it so much. Armin smiled to himself, as he put his items away, and glanced around to make sure he was alone, before hiding the leather satchel again. He then pushed himself off the ocean floor, and swam in the direction of the sea cave he loved to occupy. He was a little later than usual, this time. His grandfather had cornered him, trying to convince him once again to take his place on the throne. He shook his head at the thought. It wasn't his throne. It was his cousin, Historia's. She was a few months older, therefore she was the rightful heir, and to be honest, Armin was sure that she would do a whole lot better at ruling the kingdom, than he would. He'd only try to skip out on his duties, much like he was doing now.

Armin swam under the entrance, and broke through the surface of the water. He lifted a hand to brush blond strands of hair from his face, and opened his eyes to stare at the shiny, rock wall - except he wasn't looking at the wall. He was looking at the creature sitting against the shiny rock wall. Worst yet, the creature was looking back at him, stunned.

 _'Oh no!'_ Armin thought mournfully, as he stared in horror at the creature in front of him. The surface creatures! They had found his hiding place, his sanctuary! They were probably going to steal all of his shiny rocks, and then eat him - or, at least that's what Annie had told him the last time he spoke to her about the surface. he bit down on his lip, scrambling back, so that he was flush against the ocean wall, staring wide-eyed. There may have only been one in the sea cave, but he was sure that there were more hiding out, somewhere.

He should leave. He should try to escape, and warn the others. He should have tried to recall his past lessons; the ones which instructed him on what to do if, on the rare occasion, you ran into one of the surface creatures. Instead he stared, frozen on the spot, feeling cool with dread. He couldn't breathe, he was going to die; the surface creature was going to eat him, and mount his fins on the it's wall, he was sure of it.

But the creature didn't do that. He didn't even come near him. Instead, it spoke to him, it's soothe, foreign accented voice speaking to him in a language he did not understand. It was quiet, calm and full of warmth. It warmed him. He was surprised.

He simply stared as the creature continued to speak in that quiet tone of his, tired, pale blue eyes focused on him as It did. It made no move towards the young merman, though which Armin was grateful for. No matter how nice the creature seemed, he in no way trusted it.

Soon, the creature stopped talking, frowning slightly as It shifted, as It glanced through him, as if lost in thought. It seemed to realize something, and glanced back at the younger male, and placed a hand to It's mouth, surveying him.

Armin shifted awkwardly from his spot in the water, sinking down slightly so the water rested just under his nose, as he was scrutinized. There was pure silence for a few long minutes, and Armin was getting more and more nervous by the second. He worried his lip between his teeth, as looked at the creature, almost scared. He needed to go. The silence couldn't have been good, the creature was probably planning something after all. Armin didn't know what the thing was saying, and apparently the creature had realized that. Perhaps It had been telling Armin about his untimely doom, and the young man hadn't realized. Maybe the creature was going to pull that weapon from its side, and use it to hurt him. After all, they were two different species, and these days it was survival of the fittest, when it came to -

It was moving its hand. Armin recognized that motion. The creature was actually _waving_ at him. The merman could barely believe his eyes, as he watched the site in front of him. The creature had a small smile playing on it's lips, and it almost prompted Armin to wave back.

Almost. He didn't trust the creature. Not yet, so he lowered the arm that had risen slightly without his permission and bit down on his lip, eyes flickering to the shiny, clear rock wall. He hesitated for a moment. The creature was being kind to him, so far. It had made no move to harm him, as of yet, and as far as he knew, It may have had no plan to. But Armin had always been taught that the surface creatures were cruel and merciless, whose aim in life was to hunt down all of merkind.

But Armin couldn't understand how the creature could do that, least of all, now. If the creature had planned on hurting him, wouldn't it had done so by now? And really, the creature wasn't all that different from merkind. It looked like the rest of them, the exception being the two, oddly shaped tails, he had. He wondered how it breathed out of the water, and whether it had gills. How did it swim on land, and why was it laughing at him? 

The creature was laughing at him - not full blown laughter. It was more of a chuckle, really. It tilted it's head back, and looked up at the hole into he top of the sea cave as its chuckle died down, the slight smile still playing on it's lips. It spoke a few more foreign words, before looking back at Armin.

He considered it for a moment, before pointing the the shiny rocks. He may not have trusted the creature, but it could move on the surface, and could probably get him one of the sparkling rocks. The creature looked perplexed for a moment, as it watched Armin pull at the rocks, and make a pulling motion with his hands. It followed the merman's gaze, before it realized what he wanted. It suddenly looked amused once more, and stood up. It turned to the wall, and pulled out a small weapon, and began to dig at one of the rocks.

Armin watched, fascinated as the creature unexpectedly took the time, to retrieve the the rock for him. After a few moments, the creature was able to wrench it free from the wall, and replaced it's weapon in it's belt, before turning back to the water, and in turn, Armin. It watched him for a few moments, before taking a few steps towards the water's edge, and knelt down. It held the rock out for the other to take.

Armin watched the creature warily, before slowly moving towards it, keeping himself an arms length away, as he stretched out his hand. The creature pointed to the rock, and said something. A single word. He frowned for a few moments, before it clicked.

Crystal. It had said, "Crystal," That was what his shiny rock was called. This new knowledge warmed him, and licking his lips, he repeated the word, slowly testing the foreign word on his tongue. The creature nodded, looking proud as it dropped the crystal in Armin's awaiting hand. 

The younger male stared down at the crystal in awe, as he cradled it in his hands. He then held it to his chest, and gave the creature a small, grateful smile. He supposed that the creature couldn't be too bad, if it was kind enough to give him the crystal. Armin moved back against the wall, as the creature did the same, moving back to it's original spot across from the water. Armin paused for a moment, and ducked underneath the water. He heard his name being called from the distance, and cursed his luck. Resurfacing, he glanced at the creature. He was both eager to leave, but hesitant to say good bye. Conflicted, his eyes flicked around for a few moments, before a memory resurfaced. He knew what he had to do. He stared right at the creature, and opened his mouth, singing out a wordless tune.

The creature stared, not saying a word, and barely letting out a single breathe as he watched, almost captivated. After a few, drawn out moments, the creature's eyelids slipped shut, and he relaxed against the wall, fast asleep. Armin bit down on his lip, and glanced at the creature for one, last time before sinking underneath the water, and leaving the cave, swimming to where he was being called. When he finally met up with the merman calling for him, Eren he blocked out most of the yelling, and thought back to the creature in the cave. He wondered if he would see him again, and if he would even remember him.


End file.
